Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two set to appear in Sunday’s Tribune.
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NEW MEADOWS — A hunt for a Cambridge man continued Wednesday afternoon near New Meadows after the man allegedly opened fire on two Adams County sheriff’s deputies Sunday.
William “Bill” James, 24, is wanted for attempted murder after allegedly firing several shots at deputies Nikki Sauerland and Randall Benavides at about 4:35 p.m. Sunday.
The deputies responded to the Quality Feed on Highway 55 in Meadows, about 3 miles east of New Meadows, after a report he was there in violation of a protection order, according to a probable cause affidavit from the sheriff’s office.
“They just pulled in the driveway, parked and were exiting their vehicles when he opened fire on the patrol vehicles, hitting one patrol vehicle multiple times,” said Incident Commander Kevin Haight, an Idaho State Police captain.
The gunman fired a semi-automatic rifle from behind cover in a shed with farm equipment, Haight said.
The protection order against James stems from a May 8, 2019, incident in which he was charged with felony attempted strangulation and misdemeanor battery, according to court records.
An off-duty Idaho Department of Fish and Game officer who happened to be across the highway heard the gun shots and returned fire, F&G District Conservation Officer Marshall Haynes said.
Haynes credited the officer, who was not identified, for his “heroic” and “potentially life-saving” actions.
“Law enforcement in Idaho is one community and we’re part of that community,” Haynes said. “Anytime we can assist, we will be there.”
At the same time, a passing motorist stopped in the middle of Highway 55 to provide the two under-fire deputies with cover, Adams County Sheriff Ryan Zollman said.
The names of the F&G officer and the motorist were not disclosed pending the capture of James out of fear of retribution.
“This could’ve gone really bad,” Zollman said. “I’m just glad everyone is OK.”
Additional officers were immediately called following the gunfight, but the gunman managed to slip away on foot and evade a manhunt Sunday night.
“We don’t know for sure where he went or how he went,” Haight said. The search was temporarily suspended at about 2 a.m. Monday.
Police resumed the search Monday when they received a report at about 12:30 p.m. that James was seen in the Meadows area carrying his rifle.
Haight briefly spotted James as police on site at the Quality Feed store took positions, but he disappeared again shortly thereafter.
About 36 law enforcement personnel, including SWAT teams, combed the area for James using a variety of special equipment like drones, heat-sensing cameras and devices that can detect heartbeats, Haight said.
But an abundance of sheds, barns, wood piles, haystacks, junked cars and other debris made the search a tedious task for law enforcement, which spent Monday clearing one potential hiding spot after another.
“There’re 101 places he could hole up in,” Haight said. “He either was doing that and we couldn’t find him, or he somehow slipped out again and got out of the scene.”
Late Monday afternoon, searchers thought they were closing in on James in a barn near Quality Feed.
“We were sensing something live in there and there was,” Haight said. “It was a cat.”
Police used tracking dogs Tuesday to see if they could pick up his trail.
Zollman and Haight believed James was still in the Meadows area, but teams also searched a potential hiding spot near Fish Lake Road east of Meadows late Tuesday.
— Drew Dodson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday
Joseph’s Grainery sees record sales
COLFAX — While many businesses have had to limit business hours or close entirely because of the coronavirus, Joseph’s Grainery has seen record-setting business these past few weeks.
Joseph’s Grainery sells whole grains and milled flours, as well as cookie mixes, cracked wheat cereal, etc., and has seen a growth of 4,158 percent this month, compared to March 2019.
“Business is booming,” said Jeff Geier, Joseph’s Grainery employee. “You have to assume it’s mostly virus-related things, but at the same time I think people are becoming more and more aware of where their food comes from and where it’s available.”
Bill Myers, owner of Joseph’s Grainery, said right now their biggest challenge is having enough supplies to meet the shipping needs.
“Flat rate boxes, packing tape, anything that helps with shipping, we just consumed them in this last week, a year supply in the last week,” Myers said.
There are currently three full-time employees and a couple of part-time employees just to keep up with orders coming in. Geier said the days have become longer, working 12-hour days right now.
“It’s a good kind of crazy,” Geier said. “It came all of a sudden, it started about midweek the week of March 16 and then we set an all-time Joseph’s Grainery sales record on Sunday, March 22.”
The majority of sales comes from Joseph’s Grainery’s Amazon store. Products are also sold directly from their website. Geier said they also have had a hard time keeping up with the products that they sell in other retail locations, such as Rosauers in Colfax and Dissmores IGA in Pullman.
Joseph’s Grainery sells at 11 retail locations in Whitman County, and more locations outside of the county.
“Our busiest time is usually in the fall and around the holidays,” Myers said. “Now is generally when it dies off and has dovetailed nicely with farming, because it dies off here and we are able to focus on our day jobs. With this increase in business now it’s been an entirely new thing where we have to split things up and create a balance.”
Myers said he is at the point in spring farming where he can spend a great deal of time and attention on the influx in business.
“We have good guys on the farm, where I am able to do that. I’m blessed to have that going for us,” Myers said. “It’s a rare opportunity, but it’s our responsibility.”
Prices have remained the same for Joseph’s Grainery products and everything sold is free shipping/shipping included in the price.
“We haven’t changed our prices, the whole supply-and-demand thing, you see stores jacking up the prices, we aren’t doing that,” Geier said.
Myers and Geier shared that Joseph’s Grainery recently donated more than 10,000 pounds of milled grain to Warrior Liquor in Spokane.
“They are making hand sanitizer to give to first responders and hospitals,” Geier said. “Our goal is to feed people; we think it’s God’s work to feed and help people and that’s what we are trying to do.”
— Victoria Fowler, Whitman County Gazette (Colfax), Thursday
